Automation and digitalization of the grain storage: the need of the hour

Agro Ukraine Summit was held on June 6, where the panel discussion “Grain storage automation and digitalization: necessity or present” discussed key aspects of modern grain storage facilities development. Among the speakers was Serhii Artiushkin, Head of Advanced Development at Grain Capital, who shared his vision of the future of automated grain elevators.

Difference between Grain Capital systems and classical accounting programs

Serhii Artiushkin emphasized the fundamental difference between Grain Capital's osnova.enterprise system and traditional accounting programs. Classic systems are document-oriented and record the results of activity retroactively (accounting of incomes and expenses, profit and loss analysis). They work on the principle “no document — supposedly nothing happened”. This is effective for accounting tasks, but not for operational management.

"Our system osnova.enterprise is just about this. Plan based on actual data. See what's happening now, hear when something has gone wrong, react and manage. Everything in one place, without physical presence at the grain elevator and visual control by the director's eye — there would be the Internet," said Serhii Artiushkin.

Let's make an analogy with a car: an airbag should be deployed at the moment of an accident, not after the report is submitted to the insurance company. It is the same in grain elevator management — we need up-to-date data “here and now” in order to promptly react to changes and make effective decisions.

GRAIN STORAGE WITHOUT OPERATOR: trends and visions

Now we are focusing on our flagship product: osnova, a system for automatic control of the grain storage business. Now we are working on a complex project where osnova will, among other things, control the SCADA system. More precisely, our smart.scada. This will be the first grain storage in Ukraine without an operator. At least, as far as we know. And, based on market demands, this will be the trend of the next few years: to remove human involvement wherever possible.

The industry, in particular, is moving towards clustering, where a group of grain elevators in the region has one management team, one focused resource of expertise. We only need to help them, to provide them with a tool for remote planning, management and execution control. And this is where we see our role. The task of managers is to define the rules of the game in the system, the scenarios. What we do and in what case: what we accept, what we definitely do not accept, where we put it, how we finalize it.... In other words, the same meetings, tactical planning, but in an interface - no need to race through grain elevators. And the decisions made are automatically implemented. The system controls the equipment, monitors individual sections and processes, their performance indicators, and notifies of deviations. And, of course, it writes everything. Employee motivation, investment decisions, management decisions in general — all of this requires accurate analytical data.

By development, we have requests for energy management, Drying Log, grain CRM — strictly for grain storages and traders, a lot. Owners and tops in the turbulence of today have little to influence externally, the greater the demands and need to manage internally. Businesses want a manageable, obedient grain elevator. That's what we do.

Expectations of developers from business

In a nutshell, we want quality business goals. Clear, measurable, meaningful and time-bound. We don't expect technical expertise and perfect ToRs. What matters is that the business does its part: clearly understands what it wants and why. Preferably, this “why” should be in money. If the business objectives say “improve efficiency, increase throughput, reduce downtime” — those aren't objectives, they're toast. When there is no clear vision of the goal, the outcome will almost never satisfy, and it won't be a project, but a lottery.

"However, we are ready to lend a shoulder here as well:) The stage of defining goals and forming requirements before making a decision to start a project is already quite a common practice in the market and we provide such a service," emphasizes the head of Grain Capital's Advanced Development Department.

Automation and digitalization of grain storages is not just a fashion trend, but an urgent need to optimize processes, increase efficiency and ensure operational management in today's turbulent environment. Next-generation systems like Grain Capital's osnova are paving the way for autonomous and manageable grain elevators that will be the foundation of successful agribusinesses of the future.